The Mighty Riff Issue One Review: Fun

On the cover of issue one of ‘The Mighty Riff’ an annoyed woman of color with purplish hair, an anxious-looking robot, someone with green hair holding a scepter and an exhausted dog surround a heavyset man wailing on a guitar. All of this seems to be happening on a moon rock. That woman with the purple hair is Trish who seems long suffering, especially since she’s selling merchandise in the rain where there are no people in sight. Riff is in Vegas and he’s failing miserably as a rocker. Overweight and out of touch he rescues a musical relic from going in the dumpster. But that’s only the beginning.

As Uncle Dean (Riff), his niece Trish and the old Jukebox he salvaged are caught in a rainstorm, something mysterious happens. They end up in space, Trish is still annoyed and the jukebox gains its voice and a potty-mouth attitude. Meanwhile, traveling through space can be treacherous, but when the now Jukebot covers its nonexistent eyes you’re going to be in for an unusual ride. This first issue of the indie-comic is enjoyable. Where else can you read about talking with tripped out oversexed hippies at a Michael McDonald’s in another dimension? The puns don’t stop there. There’s the son to the evil queen Otto Tune who alongside his mother is out to control a music-related universe. There’s even a bit of Shakespeare-type drama as the son maybe plotting to overthrow his mom. Riff is there to save this universe. A rocker on his last legs, he’s been given a chance to be a star and a hero in this unusual, funny place.

In this dimension Bea Bounce (pronouncing Bounce with an accent mark over the e) is a minion of Queen Drooping Molly who’s out to control this world. Under a maniacal spell, Bounce sings off key and grows tremendously. With no seemingly clear plan that will work in Trish’s eyes, somehow good rock-music prevails. ‘The Mighty Riff’ written and illustrated by Brian Coles may visually remind you of ‘Phineas and Ferb.’ With a mixture of the absurd and hope, Riff and his crew just may save this universe. And as independent comics go this one is of high quality digitally. It also has a quick, cohesive pace which you’ll appreciate as a reader. You’re going to look forward to the second issue. Will Riff save this rock-music dimension one villainous underling at a time? It’ll be fun to find out, especially if there are more puns involved.

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Donna-lyn Washington has a M.A. in English from Brooklyn College. She is currently teaching at Kingsborough Community College where her love of comics and pop culture play key parts in helping her students move forward in their academic careers. As a senior writer for ReviewFix she has been able to explore a variety of worlds through comics, film and television and has met some interesting writers and artists along the way. Donna-lyn does a weekly podcast reviewing indie comics and has also contributed entries to the 'Encyclopedia of Black Comics,’ the academic anthology ‘Critical Insights: Frank Yerby’ and is the editor for the upcoming book, ‘Conversations With: John Jennings.’